DURING SPRING and summer months, the Palouse region of southeastern Washington bustles with caravans of shutterbugs. Photographers from around the world flock to the region each year for a chance to capture the fertile palette of the Palouse—a feast of gold, sienna, and green with endless rolling hills, craggy geological effigies, abandoned barns, and aging farm equipment. It is a landscape photographer’s mecca.
Palouse local Jack Lien, owner of Palouse Country Photo Tours (fourseasonsphototours.com) and a shooter with more than 30 years of landscape and wildlife photography experience, spends his days shuffling these amateur and professional shutterbugs around the Palouse’s rolling hills, and offering them an insider’s view of the region, along with some lessons.
Spring and harvest tours—slated for June and August respectively—are popular among photographers for the opportunity they present to capture the colors of the region’s fertile landscape, and the farmers who cultivate it, though custom tours and workshops may be arranged year-round for those interested in shooting something else altogether. Six-person tours, which include one-on-one instruction, typically span five-days with shoots beginning as early as 4:30 a.m. in order to capture ideal light.
On such tours photographers have the opportunity to click away at a vast array of subjects ranging from sunrise on Steptoe Butte to ripening canola fields, from rustic barns to crop dusters. With a reverence for the region’s still-functioning agricultural lifestyle, Lien guides his clients along miles of well-examined back roads—often more than 100 miles per day—providing some surprising vantage points, such as riding in a combine or wheat truck during harvest, along the way.
The mileage pays off with the end result. Photo tours in the Palouse can offer a once-in-a-lifetime experience, netting participants thousands of photos, and often one heck of story. —HEATHER CARO
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EVER SINCE LEWIS AND CLARK paddled down the Snake River back in 1805, word has been getting out about Southeast Washingtons splashy outdoor scene.
Natural and man-made wonders in the Palouse
Dabble in Daytons diversions.
KNOWN FOR its fertile rolling hills and land-grant universities, the southeastern region has more to offer than just amber waves of grain.
Touring the Palouse with camera in hand.
PUNCTUATED BY ANCIENT rock formations, roaming wildlife, and reminders of days gone by, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is deeper than the Grand Canyon, and nearly as remote.
Water, 200 vertical feet of it, shoots down a sheer rock face andcrash-lands in a fury of splashes. This is breathtaking Palouse Falls,made all the more dramatic by the fact that its tucked away in thishilly agricultural region.
Although best known for waves of grain, the Palouse has fostered other edible delights, too, including baked goods, fine cheeses, and even lentil ice cream.
THERES NO CONTEST when it comes to the depths of Hells Canyons black-and-buff walls.
Tucked in the heart of the rolling Palouse hills is Pullman, home to nearly 30,000 residents; Washington State University; a 4,500-pound bronze cougar; and, once a year, a very large bowl of chili.
Find Out More
Please visit our Tourism Partners
Ritzville Chamber of Commerce
509-659-1936
Clarkston Chamber of Commerce
800-933-2128
Dayton Chamber of Commerce
800-882-6299
Hells Canyon Visitor Association
877-774-7248
Pomeroy Chamber of Commerce
877-353-0118
Pullman & the Palouse
800-365-6948